iPhone/iPad iOS music making app round-up: Week 27

Way Out Ware SynthX, Sound Trends Grüvtron and more

New apps and updates

This is a big week for Apple’s mobile devices: iOS version 4.3 has just been released and GarageBand for iPad will be out tomorrow. What’s more, several other very promising music-making apps have also launched, and we’ve got some significant updates to tell you about, too.

Way Out Ware SynthX, £5.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 3.2 or later)

Said to be based on the same technology as Way Out Ware’s VST synths, this one aims to bring “a great looking and sounding analogue experience to the iPad”. It can be played either from a standard piano keyboard or an XY mode that tunes every touch to the selected scale – watch this video to find out more.

Sound Trends Grüvtron, £2.99

From the maker of the Looptastic apps comes this ‘jamming’ tool that enables you to trigger sequences and morph between then with everything staying in time. You can also use the Modulation strip to control the filter, add vibrato and utilise other expressive effects. Click here to see it in action.

Moog Filtatron 1.1.1, £4.99

This update to Moog’s excellent little audio processor might not add much in the way of new functionality, but it is now a Universal app, with users of the iPad and the latest versions of the iPhone and iPod touch benefiting from hi-res graphics. On the downside, the price has gone up slightly, but it’s still worth the money.

Notion Music Progression Free, free

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

Notion has brought its notation software experience to the iPad, introducing this simple guitar tab creation tool. It enables you to write, edit and play back guitar tab using real audio examples, and features an interactive 24-fret guitar fretboard for fast entry.

Fotoh LLC Sample Lab, £4.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

This sampler/sequencer has just been updated to add punch-in loopbox-style recording so that you can layer up loops live, beat recording with improved quantisation, MIDI input support (so you can plug a controller in) and more. Quite a few bugs have been squished, too.

iMect Ltd DJ Player 3, £17.99

Billed as “a complete DJ booth in your bag,” DJ Player gives you two decks, two effect engines and a mixer to work with. This update adds (among other things) Universal app status (there are native iPad and iPhone interfaces), a new design and workflow and seamless integration with your iPod library.